Murder of Felicia Gayle

Felicia Gayle Picus (known as Lisha) was a former St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter who was found stabbed to death in her St. Louis, Missouri home.

Murder

Gayle, 42 years old at the time, was murdered during a burglary in her gated community home located in the University City suburb of St Louis, Missouri on August 11, 1998.[1] She was stabbed between 10 times and 43 times with a butcher's knife.[2][3]

Investigation and trial

Police arrested Marcellus Williams (born December 30, 1968)[4] for the crime based on a jailhouse confession to fellow inmate Henry Cole, and testimony of his former girlfriend Lara Asaro for which $10000 was paid.[5] No physical evidence connects Williams to the murder, although the police found some of Gayle's possessions, including her husband's laptop, in the car Williams drove that day.[3] In December, DNA testing results cast fresh doubt on the conviction. On August 15, 2017 the Supreme Court of Missouri summarily denied him a new execution stay, despite recently obtained results of that testing that support his innocence claim.[6][7]

Williams was sentenced to death on August 27, 2001,[8] by St. Louis County Circuit Judge Emmett M. O’Brien.[9] He is held at Potosi Correctional Center and was scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on August 22, 2017.[9] A last minute stay of execution was issued by Governor Eric Greitens and a Board of Inquiry was initiated.[10] The Board is headed by Carol E. Jackson and consists of 5 retired judges.[11] It has subpoenaed both prosecution and defense.[12][13] The Board had hearings in August 2018, and Governor Mike Parson will receive the Board's conclusion, and make his decision.[14]

The Governor stayed the execution, and as of January 2019, they are still looking into new findings.

See also

References
  1. Ritzen, Yarno (August 23, 2017). "Marcellus Williams faces execution despite new evidence". Al Jazeera. Retrieved August 23, 2017.
  2. Kerch, Steve (August 23, 1998). "A Deeply Felt Loss Shows Some Things Cannot Be Rebuilt". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved August 23, 2017.
  3. Sumter, Angelica N. (January 21, 2005). "Execution Set For St. Louis Man Who Fatally Stabbed Woman 43 Times". Inquisitr. Retrieved August 23, 2017.
  4. "Missouri Department Of Corrections Offender Search". web.mo.gov. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  5. Mittman, Jeffrey (August 20, 2017). "Stop the execution of Marcellus Williams". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved August 23, 2017.
  6. "Missouri Court Denies Condemned Prisoner Stay of Execution, Review of Case Despite Exonerating DNA Evidence". Death Penalty Information Center. Retrieved August 23, 2017.
  7. "Marcellus Williams Faces Execution Despite Doubts about Conviction". Amnesty International USA. August 16, 2017. Retrieved August 23, 2017.
  8. "Killer of former reporter is condemned to death". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. August 28, 2001.
  9. Kohler, Jeremy (August 18, 2017). "Death row inmate asks U.S. Supreme Court to stop his execution for former P-D reporter's murder". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Archived from the original on May 25, 2018. Retrieved August 23, 2017.
  10. "Marcellus Williams: Missouri governor stays execution". BBC. August 22, 2017. Retrieved August 23, 2017.
  11. https://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/missouri-governor-names-panel-examine-new-dna-evidence-marcellus-williams-case
  12. https://criminaljusticereformjournal.com/2018/04/26/marcellus-williams-board-of-inquiry-set-to-meet-with-state-and-defence-attorneys-in-june/
  13. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/marcellus-williams-death-row-future-unclear/
  14. https://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/williams-death-penalty-review-panel-hears-new-evidence#stream/0
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